Chapter 18 – Blood Mosquito

While in the Rich Country, Jiang Yan also bought a batch of kerosene and alcohol.

Kerosene wasn’t just good for fuel and lighting—it had plenty of other uses.

As for alcohol, its freezing point was –117°C. In extremely cold weather, burning an alcohol stove would also be a solid choice.

While traveling through these countries, she had also stocked up on common medicines. She bought a thousand first-aid kits and twenty AEDs.

Prescription drugs, however, were just as tightly regulated abroad as they were at home.

She managed to acquire some through special channels, but the stockpile was limited.

After rushing around from country to country without pause, the 3.2 billion yuan she once had in her account was now down to pocket change.

But at this point, everything worth buying had basically been bought.

On the morning of July 6, Jiang Yan boarded a flight home—carrying two “small goals” still on her card and a spatial dimension packed full of supplies—her body exhausted.

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The moment she stepped out of the plane, the blazing sunlight struck her face, carrying with it a scorching wave of heat.

Jiang Yan frowned slightly.

Before flying home, she had checked the domestic weather forecasts, and even on the plane there had been local temperature announcements.

She knew that Anming’s temperatures had suddenly risen these past two days.

But the actual heat she felt on her skin was far higher than what the forecast suggested—far higher.

Could it be… that the natural disasters scheduled to begin on August 8th were arriving early?

A cold premonition surged in her chest.

“Miss, hello, welcome back to Anming. This way, please!”

As soon as she stepped off the gangway, a young man in a white shirt, black slacks, and white gloves approached her enthusiastically.

Ever since her mother sold the company, their family hadn’t even hired a driver anymore.

But as a super VIP of the airline, she was always chauffeured home directly by one of their cars.

This time was no exception.

The young man politely took her carry-on bag. Only after she boarded the business car did he jump into the driver’s seat.

The car quickly left Anming International Airport and merged onto the ring highway.

“Miss, is the air conditioning temperature comfortable?” he asked softly as he drove.

Jiang Yan responded with a quiet “Mm,” then glanced at the dashboard, her brows knitting again.

Anming had always been known for its pleasant year-round climate, earning it the nickname “Spring City.”

July was usually the hottest month, but even then the temperature only ranged between 18–25°C—perfectly comfortable.

If you stood under a tree or in the shade, it could even feel chilly.

But right now, the car’s external temperature reading showed 38°C.

Something was clearly wrong.

Suddenly remembering something, Jiang Yan pulled out her phone and checked the apocalypse warning posts she had made earlier on various websites.

As expected, several sites had already deleted them.

One site had even muted her anonymous account entirely.

Only one post remained—barely clinging to life on the second-largest website in the country—the one she had posted while in Windmill Country.

Naturally, it still showed her IP address from there.

She skimmed through the comments. Most were mocking, some were openly hostile.

The majority dismissed her warnings as nothing more than a prank for attention.

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Comments:

【@PrettyLittleGuo: The apocalypse is coming? Should I panic or nah? eyeroll.jpg】

【@QinShihuangSendMoney: The IP isn’t domestic. Watch out—it might be someone with ulterior motives!】

【@Ahaha: Exactly! The experts haven’t spoken. Some people are rotten to the core nowadays!! If you can predict the apocalypse, why don’t you predict the date of your own death?】

【@NoodleLovingBigGuy: F***, fearmongering again. The rice I hoarded years ago is already crawling with bugs!】

【@HalfCute_baby: Just asking quietly… if my insomnia is related to this warning, can I sue the OP for damages?】

【@LegHairThreeInches: If the end’s coming, I don’t need to pay my mortgage and car loans, right? doge.jpg】

【@MangosteenLoverKingJiji: May our land stay safe, may the nation prosper! prayer.jpg】

【@DeletedAccount: Only an idiot would believe this.】

【@HoardingHermit: Honestly, the weather’s been weird lately. Luckily I’ve got extra freezer space—maybe I should stock up a bit, just in case. Got scarred from all those food shortages before.】

【@TabooBreakerZhangDaming: If that’s the case, I’ll just take my doomsday ride and hide in the mountains. And of course, I’ll bring my dog. grin.jpg】

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“BANG!!!”

Just as Jiang Yan was scrolling through the comments, a violent crash echoed against the windshield.

At the same time—“SCREEECH!”—the business car braked sharply, jolting her body forward.

Fortunately, the vehicle had wide spacing and she was belted in, so she didn’t hit her head.

And luckily, it wasn’t rush hour—otherwise, such a sudden stop would’ve caused a rear-end collision.

She almost fled into her spatial dimension on instinct.

“Shit! What the hell?!”

The driver cursed under his breath, then quickly realized he had a passenger. Turning his head, he apologized:

“Sorry, miss. That must’ve given you a scare. Are you hurt?”

“I’m fine,” Jiang Yan replied—but when her gaze lifted to the windshield, her body froze.

On the upper right corner of the glass, a grotesque mess of blood and black, jointed insect limbs clung tightly to the surface. Thick, sticky red fluid was slowly trailing downward.

The sight was chilling.

The twitching remains moved slightly—then went limp.

She couldn’t make out exactly what it was.

“Thud!”

The bloodied mass finally slid down the window.

“Miss, please excuse me for a moment. Some strange insect crashed into the windshield. I’ll step out to check.”

The young man removed his sunglasses and got out. He set up a red warning triangle behind the car, then jogged to the front, snapping photos of the glass and ground before making a call.

Since he was driving a company car, if the responsibility couldn’t be cleared, he’d be liable for the damages.

Jiang Yan stared at the bloodstains for a few seconds. Then, slipping a medical mask from her pocket—actually, from her space—she put it on before getting out too.

With her hat and sunglasses already on, the mask sealed her appearance completely.

Even through the mask, she could smell the metallic tang of blood hanging in the sweltering air.

The moment her eyes fell on the thing on the ground, her scalp prickled and her body instinctively staggered backward.

Because in the sticky red mess, she could clearly make out a slender proboscis unique to mosquitoes—along with shattered wings and several black legs speckled with white spots.